The Chalk Man
Author: C.J. Tudor
Publication Date: January 9th, 2018
Publisher: Crown
Synopsis: In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.
In 2016, Eddie is fully grown and thinks he’s put his past behind him, but then he gets a letter in the mail containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank–until one of them turns up dead. That’s when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started The Chalk Man. It was definitely an interesting book with a synopsis that made it sound eerie and kind of creepy, and while I love those aspects in a book, I wasn’t sure how much I was going to end up loving The Chalk Man. Still, I wanted to try something new, so I requested in on Blogging for Books and was pretty happy that I did.
While it wasn’t one of my favorite books, it did pack a great punch that made it pretty unique and full of suspense. I love thrillers, so I had a feeling that while I wasn’t sure I would love the overall book, the concept would be right up my alley. Turns out, I was a big fan of the whole thing – the characters, the setting, and the creepy weird stuff that went on in the book.
First off, that plot? Full of thrills. There are so many twists and turns going on in this book that they aren’t only fun and sure to hold your attention, but they really do add to the story – they aren’t just there for shock value. I love when a plot twist isn’t just made to throw a reader in a different direction from what you’re expecting, but when it actually adds to the overall premise. That’s true here!
The characters were pretty fun and easy to connect to after a few chapters. Granted at first I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to enjoy reading about them much, but over time I found myself really warming up to them, and it made the book a lot more enjoyable.
I don’t want to talk about the plot and give a basic rehash because aside from what the synopsis tells you, to add any more information to it would kind of be a bit of a spoiler, and I really don’t want to ruin anything. This is truly one of those books that are infinitely more enjoyable if you actually read it, so I’m leaving it at that.
Definitely pick this one up if you’re in search of something out of the ordinary, because this really fits the bill!
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via the Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Very nice review!